Stepping inside Kerepesi Cemetery, its charm immediately draws you in, quickly erasing the memory of your approach from a busy, noisy street. Here the air is crystal clear, filled with the sweet scents of nature, and the noises of squirrels and the two dozen types of birds who call the cemetery home. Lengthy boulevards lined with old towering trees guide your path and wherever you step foot, your tour will take you to an intriguing part of Hungary’s past. Informative guided walks in English, French, German and Russian are free of charge – see the cemetery website for details.
Kerepesi dates back to 1847, when the then separate city of Pest recognized the need for a cemetery where anyone regardless of religious beliefs could be laid to rest. A 130-hectare vineyard was chosen for the site, out of the city limits that ended near today’s Blaha Lujza Square. Kerepesi was duly blessed and officially opened as a public cemetery. At first, families started buying parcels just inside the fence so today, private sites encircle the whole cemetery. The space also used to be larger. Today it occupies 56 hectares, about three-quarters the size of Margaret Island.
Walking along the fence, we find the grave of the first great Hungarian buried here, Mihály Vörösmarty, a notable poet and the author of Szózat ("Appeal"), considered Hungary's second national anthem. When he passed away, the news spread like wildfire. Despite a curfew across Hungary, forbidding gatherings of more than two people, a crowd of 30,000 assembled at the cemetery, singing the Szózat and honoring Vörösmarty.
Delving deeper into the cemetery and history, we make our way towards the mausoleum of Hungary’s first Prime Minister, Count Lajos Batthyány. He was the governor of the country during the Revolution of 1848 and 1849, when Hungary fought for independence from the Austrian Empire. When the revolution was crushed in 1849, brutal retaliatory measures were decreed by the Austrian authorities. The heroes of the uprising, including Batthyány, were executed and buried in nameless graves. During the period that followed, their names could not even be mentioned. Thanks to a clever conspiracy, however, Batthyány’s body was hidden in the crypt beneath the church on Ferenciek Square for two decades, until he could be decorously reburied in Kerepesi.
On the way to the cemetery, Batthyány’s coffin was checked by officials at the city gates. At the cemetery, the nameless grave dedicated to him had deliberately been made too small, allowing the crafty priest to throw a fake tantrum and order the body to be taken back to the city as the grave was unsuitable. When the hearse again reached the city gates, presuming that the coffin was now empty, officials did not even bother to inspect it. Batthyány’s body was taken to the church, where it was kept safe until the Compromise of 1867 that established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary and partially recognized Hungarian sovereignty.
After the Compromise, the cemetery ceased to be used by the general public alone. Following the example of Père-Lachaise in Paris, Kerepesi became a national pantheon and graveyard for all great Hungarians, designed by French and Belgian landscape architects. Several heroes of the revolution were reburied, including Batthyány. Four years after his bizarre burial, his magnificent mausoleum was designed by Albert Schickedanz, architect of Heroes’ Square and the Millennial Monument. Today, this is one of the biggest and most majestic mausoleums at Kerepesi, at least from the exterior. Inside, its walls are whitewashed and free of decoration.
The symbolic center of the cemetery is the mausoleum of statesman and Minister of Justice, Ferenc Deák, “The Wise Man of the Nation” and pioneer of passive resistance during the post-1849 crackdown. Deák’s mausoleum is truly personal; the walls are decorated with his quotes and a poem written to him by Vörösmarty. Four frescos present allegories of his virtues and the kind of man he was. The fresco facing the gate depicts Deák in two different ages; on the left side he is portrayed as an ambitious young man who puts himself forward for the benefit of the country, while on the right side he is old, withdrawing and letting young politician Gyula Andrássy go in front of him – both physically and allegorically.
Around Deák are the graves of eminent Hungarians who helped shape the landscape and culture of Budapest around the turn-of-the-century, including Andrássy, actress Mari Jászai, painter Károly Lotz and architect Ödön Lechner, the Hungarian Gaudí.
The most grandiose funeral of the Dual Monarchy was that of the most emblematic figure of the Revolution, Lajos Kossuth, governor of the Kingdom of Hungary during the fight for freedom. After 1849, Kossuth emigrated and lived the rest of his life abroad. His ashes were brought to Budapest and buried at Kerepesi. His strikingly adorned mausoleum is still the grandest piece of funereal architecture in Hungary, and definitely worth seeing.
After the turn of the century, two stunning arcades were created, today bordering the main walkway that leads to the graves of two great Hungarian poets, Mór Jókai and Endre Ady, as well as to the mausoleum of actress Lujza Blaha. The archways are also the last resting place of restaurateur Károly Gundel, whose Hungarian cookbook is the most popular and widely translated of its kind.
During World War II, the cemetery suffered significant damage. In 1945, the Soviet Army broke in, occupied it and refused entry to any Hungarian. They robbed graves, including the Deák mausoleum, and used sculptures and tombstones as for shooting practice. Signs of this disrespectful pastime left many tombs damaged with bullet holes still visible today.
After Hungary’s unsuccessful later Uprising against Russian occupation, fallen Soviet soldiers from 1945 and 1956 were laid to rest here, and today a separate section is dedicated to them. Another major monument is the Pantheon of the Labour Movement, erected during post-1956 Communist rule, with the aim of having the urns of all outstanding Socialist figures housed in one place, the most prominent allocated the top row. Originally the pantheon was designed to contain 365 urns, but only a few remain and nearly 300 spaces are empty. After the overthrow of Communism in 1989, there were plans to demolish this controversial site, but it remains in place today.
A few steps away lies the simple grave of the longest-lasting Hungarian Communist leader, János Kádár. One evening in 2007, his grave was dug up by unknown perpetrators, who also stole his skull and his wife’s urn. Investigations dragged on but the remains were never recovered. On the same night, a quote from a Hungarian song was graffitied on the Pantheon of the Labour Movement, saying: “A murderer and traitor may not lie in sacred ground”.
Since 1997, the cemetery has been a national heritage site. Graves and mausoleums cannot be disturbed and for years to come, Kerepesi will continue to be a national pantheon for the greatest Hungarians as well as an attractive recreational space for walkers, joggers and cyclists. Since 2013, it has been a National Memorial Sight, one of only 19 in Hungary that guard the memory of fateful events in national history. A Piety Museum and Collection of Funereal Culture is also found on the cemetery grounds, illustrating traditional burial ceremonies, city-specific relics and civic burial culture.
Kerepesi Cemetery
Address: Budapest 1086, Fiumei út 16-18
Opening Hours: Monday - Sunday: 7am - 5pm
The cemetery is a ten-minute walk from the metro stations of Keleti (M2/M4 lines) and II. János Pál Pápa tér (M4 line), while tram 24 stops right outside.
